Washing apparatus for automobiles and the like



April 10, 1951 K. YAMAsHlRo 2,548,331

WASHING APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES` AND THE LIKE Filed Apr-i1 9, 1948INI/EN TOR. fm/0 )2M/wma Patented Apr. 10, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE WASHING APPARATUS FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE Kameo Yamashiro,Beverly Hills, Calif.

Application April 9, 1948, Serial No. 19,950

3 Claims. 1;

My invention relates to a device designed par.- ticularly for washingautomobiles although not limited to such use. ,o

Inwashing automobiles care has to be used to avoid marring the iine nishof the enamel by scratches and it is general practice to iirst wash offsurface dust with a stream of clean water and thereafter Wash the enamelwith soap and water using soft sponges or cloths and to nally polish thecar iinish with appropriate pre-parations applied with a dry cloth.

While Sponges and cloths produce good results in the hands of a mechanicdressed in work clothes, the majority of cars are washed by their ownersand the use of a sponge or bunched up cloth held in the hand usuallyinvolves damage to clothing from dirty water.

It is an object of my invention to provide a. device upon which a clothmay be readily mounted and held at a distance while in use thus avoidingthe drawback of water trickling or being thrown onto the users clothes.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a pad which will holdwater and around which a cloth may be easily secured so that the clothis kept wet for extended periods thus reducing the work of keeping kitwet by dipping it in a basin or pail.

A still further object oi my invention is to provide a device forwashing automobiles and the like provided with a support on which awashing cloth may be mounted in a readily removable manner, the washingmaterial being held to present a delinite shape remaining unchangedduring operation.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a device for thepurpose specified provided with a resilient pad around which a washingcloth may be wound and retained in `position by readily releasablemeans.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for washingautomobiles and other surfaces which is arranged to secure variousadvantages over any devices for similar purposes at present known to me'but is of simple and rugged construction.

Still further objects and features of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a preferred form of my invention but it is tobe understood that various changes and modifications may be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the sc-ope of theinvention asfintended to be dened by the appended claims.

In the drawings: l

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device of my invention showing awashing cloth mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2.--2 of Fig. l drawn to a largerscale;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on line 3*-3 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 4 is aA fragmentary secti-onlongitudinally of the handle taken onthe line ll-4 of Fig. l

showing the structure and mounting of the tensioning member. v

In the drawings the numeral I9 indicates the handle of the device whichmay be formed from a length of' tube having one end closed, forinstance, by a rubber ferrule I2 such as is used on the ends of walkingcanes or crutches.

The opposite end of the tubular shaft is closed by a plate I4 brazed orotherwise secured to the end of the tube, and two outwardly projectingrods I6 and I8 are secured in the plate I4 at one end, The rods are bentaway from one another as clearly shown in Fig. l, to receive a lblocko-r pad Zil of resilient and water-holding material, such as spongerubber, more fully described hereinafter, and the free ends oi rods IB,I8 are inwardly bent at a sharp angle to engage in the edges of block20. v

Preferably a transversely arranged length of tube 22 is arranged toextend through the thickness of block 20, the ends of rods I6 and I8engaging in the ends of the tube. Stops or buttons 24 may be secured onthe inwardly turned ends of the rods to limit the extent of penetrationthereof into the tube 22. The construction described ensures that theblock or pad 2li is not deformed by the inward pressure of rods I6, I8,but is nevertheless securely held thereby, and in addition the pad mayreadily follow the contour of a curved surface by tilting on the rodends. While the rods may be sufciently resilient to maintain secureengagement with the pad a tension spring 26 is preferably fitted to aidin keeping the rods in engagement with the pad.

The device is intended to be used with pieces of washing cloth orchamois leather 2l wrapped around it, although of course, it may be usedto advantage without the cloth.

In order to provide a readily releasable holding means for a cloth 21wrapped around the pad I arrange a third rod 30 extending from the endof the tubular handle and iitted at its free end with a cross bar 32arranged to press the overlapped ends of the cloth against the back ofthe pad along a line parallel to the tube 22, thus not only having amore effective gripping action on the cloth because of the lessenedresiliency of the pad along this line, but also enabling the clampingaction to be maintained notwithstanding a tilting movement of the pad..While various ways of ensuring adequate pressure of the cross bar 32against the pad and of mounting the rod on the tubular handle may beavailed of, I have found the illustrated construction simple andeffective. As shown, the rod 30 is passed through a hole 34 elongated ina radial direction in plate I4 and is provided with a head 36 adjacentthe lower face of the plate and ends of rods I6 and I8. In order to keepthe head 3B in such position While leaving the lower portion of rod 30smooth, a length of tube 38 is arranged around the lower end of rod 30and has an abutment 30 for a compression spring which bears against anopposite abutment 42 which may be mounted in any suitable Way on the rod39. As shown in the drawings the abutment 42 is spaced from cross bar 32by a second length 44 of tube.

In order to press the cross bar 32 against the pad, the rod 30 is bentfrom the axis of handle I0 as shown in Fig. l, and a sleeve 46 ofresilient material is forced against the bent portion of rod 30 by aspring 48 placed under compression between the end of sleeve 4E and anabutment 50 mounted on the tubular handle. By simply slipping sleeve 46longitudinally against the resist- Y ance of spring 48, cross bar 32 maybe freely around the pad with the overlap located so as to I be engagedfirmly by the cross bar 32 when the sleeve 46 is moved outwardly. Itwill be noted that in the described construction the resiliency of thesleeve 46 is relied on to exert pressure on the rod 30 acting to urge ittoward the plane of rods I6 and I8, spring 48 serving to prevent thesleeve from slacking back.

It will be noted that the inner head 36 of the rod 30 is formed as a barand is effective in tending to keep the rod 30 perpendicular to plateI4.

Since the device is intended primarily for washing automobiles the metalrods are covered by lengths of rubber tubing 52 which loosely fit on therods to provide a cushioning eiect and ensure the surface finish of theautomobile against being scratched.

I claim:

1. A device for Washing automobile and other surfaces, including: ahandle; arms secured to one end of said handle; a resilient pad; a rigidmember incorporated in said pad and extending transversely thereof andengaged with the ends of said arms; a cloth holding means secured to thehandle and arranged to bear against the back of the pad in line with therigid member; and a displaceable sleeve surrounding a portion of saidarms and of said cloth holding means, the positioning of said sleevetoward the pad holding end of the arms being elective to press the clothholding means against the pad while positioning of the displaceablesleeve in the opposite direction leaves the cloth holding means free tobe released from contact with the back of said pad.

2. A device for washing automobile and other surfaces, including: ahandle; arms secured to one end of said handle; a resilient pad; a rigidmember incorporated in said pad and extending transversely thereof andengaged with the ends of said arms; a cloth holding means secured to thehandle and arranged to bear against the back of the pad in line with therigid member; a displaceable sleeve surrounding a portion of said armsand of said cloth holding means, the positioning of said sleeve towardthe pad holding end of the arms being effective to press the clothholding means against the pad while positioning of the displaceablesleeve in the opposite direction leaves the cloth holding means free tobe released from' contact with the back of said pad; and a springmounted on the handle and bearing against said displaceable sleeve toresiliently urge the latter toward the pressing position.

3. A device for washing automobile and other surfaces, including: ahandle; a pair of arms secured to one end of said handle and resilientlyurged toward one another; a resilient pad; a rigid member incorporatedin said pad and engaged by said arms; and means carried by said handlefor detachably securing a length of washing material around saidresilient pad, the rigid member incorporated in said pad being formedwith open ends and the ends of said arms being inturned to engage insaid open ends; and a spring connected between said arms to detachablyretain the ends of the arm-s in engagement with the open ends of therigid member.

KAMEO YAMASHIRO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Mar. 7, 1931

